Daily Republic, Friday, July 15, 2022

Page 1

Class ring found at Lake Berryessa returned to owner A3

4 area products ready to prove worth at NFL camps B1

FRIDAY | July 15, 2022 | $1.00

DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.

Woman in longterm care facility 3rd Covid-related death since May Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The latest Covid surge in Solano County seems to have peaked, with daily averages dropping and the poorest outcomes continuing to be low. “That is obviously gratifying,” Dr. Bela Matyas, the county public health officer, said in a phone interview Thursday. He was speaking specifically of having just one patient in an intensive care unit, down from five, while the number of residents in the hospital with a positive coronavirus test remains fairly constant, up from 38 Monday to 39 Thursday. About half of those hospitalizations are due to the disease. The county did report another Covid-related death, bringing the

pandemic total to 428. However, it is only the third death since May and therefore attributed to the spring surge. The woman was older than 65 and living in a long-term care facility. She was vaccinated. Since July 1, 2021, when vaccines were readily available to the public, there have been 165 deaths – 125 of those individuals were not vaccinated. There were 576 new cases reported, of which 500 were over the threeday period since the previous update Monday. That puts the daily average at 166.7. “That is coming down from what has been running at about 200 per day,” Matyas said. “But those numbers are still high.” The 10-day average See Woman, Page A8

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic photos

Col. Melissa J. Dooley, center, salutes Col. Corey A. Simmons as Col. Gwendolyn A. Foster looks on during a Sacramento Market/60th Medical Group change-

of-directorship ceremony at David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, Wednesday. Dooley replaces Foster as the commanding officer.

Travis hosts change-of-directorship ceremony for new

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER Matt Miller

MMILLER@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — Emotion, music and pomp, along with blustery winds, were on display Wednesday as military and community leaders joined family and friends on the lawn in front of David Grant Medical Center for Travis Air Force Base’s change-of-directorship ceremony. Col. Gwendolyn A. Foster, Sacramento Market director and 60th Medical Group commander, relinquished her authority to Col. Melissa J. Dooley. Dooley takes on the leadership role after Foster’s two-year tour of duty. It was an unprecedented time as Foster led the Travis medical team through a Covid-19 pandemic, a wildfire evacuation and a new partnership with the Defense Health Agency. Dooley arrives from the 35th Medical Group, Misawa Air Base, Japan. She served as the commander and oversaw four squadrons, 400 personnel and the care of more than 7,000 beneficiaries. “Thank you for the warm welcome and

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

A bicyclist wearing a face mask pedals along North Texas Street in Fairfield, Thursday.

National 988 crisis hotline ready for rollout Tribune Content Agency WASHINGTON — The long-awaited three-digit crisis hotline known as 988 rolls out nationally Saturday, a win for mental health advocates who see the simplified number as the first step on a path toward building out crisis care. But how ready states and advocates feel about the next steps to improve mental health is more complicated. The implementation of 988, which will direct callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, is the first of the federal government’s three-step process to building better mental health care. The steps include the crisis call center number, which will take calls and dispatch support; mobile crisis response, which will send teams to the crisis; and crisis sta-

bilization services, or facilities to receive and serve those undergoing a crisis on a short-term basis. Experts said that’s not unusual – the implementation, funding and widespread adoption of 911 in the late 1960s and 1970s took years to achieve, for example. Becky Stoll, vice president for crisis and disaster management for Centerstone, a nonprofit health system specializing in mental health and substance use disorder services, said “nothing magical” is tied specifically to Saturday. Instead, she likened it to a launchpad. “I almost feel like we’ve been pregnant for a really long time and we’re overdue,” she said. “This is the beginning of what, I think, is going to be transformative See Hotline, Page A8

SUNDAY

Parade coming this weekend. Look for the insert in the Daily Republic.

Col. Gwendolyn A. Foster congratulates Col. Melissa J. Dooley after Col. Dooley officially takes over as the incoming commander, Wednesday.

See Medical, Page A8

Biden won’t commit to confronting Saudi Arabia over journalist’s murder Tribune Content Agency JERUSALEM — President Joe Biden on Thursday would not commit to confronting the leaders of Saudi Arabia later this week over the killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “I always bring up human rights, but my position on Khashoggi has been so clear, if anyone doesn’t understand it in Saudi Arabia – or anywhere else – they haven’t been around,” Biden said at a news conference in Jerusalem. Biden had pledged

Atef Safadi/Pool/AFP via Getty Images/TNS

President Joe Biden, left, and Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, shake hands before signing a security pledge in Jerusalem, Thursday. during the 2020 election to make Saudi Arabia an international “pariah” over the killing, believed to have been ordered by

Saudi leaders, as well as other human rights abuses. But he argued Thursday that it is essential to reengage with the

INDEX Arts B4 | Classifieds B6 | Comics A7, B5 | Crossword A6, B4 Obituary A4 | Opinion B3 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A7, B5 WEATHER 89 | 58 Sunny. Five-day forecast on B10.

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longtime ally to avoid creating a leadership vacuum in the Middle East. Biden, who travels to Saudi Arabia on Friday to meet leaders of that country and others in the region, argued that China and Russia would fill that void if the United States fails. Khashoggi, a dissident, was slain in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the slaying was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler. “The reason I’m going See Biden, Page A8


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